Profit or Conviction?

Defying shutdown new path to fame and fortune?

States are working on allowing businesses to reopen, gradually and with restrictions designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. They are going at their own speed. Texas and Arkansas, for example, just recently allowed restaurants to reopen for indoor dining, with distancing requirements and limited seating.

Over in Colorado, restaurants are still restricted to take-out service. But that didn’t stop one eatery from welcoming patrons.

C&C Coffee and Kitchen in Castle Rock opened its dining room on Mother’s Day, and video shows the place was full, every seat taken, within a half hour of flinging open the doors. It didn’t look like many diners bothered with protective face masks, either.

The owners made no secret of the reopening. They let Colorado Community Media cover the Mother’s Day crowd. And they talked about it on their Twitter feed.

Of course, health officials can read tweets and watch videos. So now the state has suspended the restaurant’s license pending further review.

It should come as no surprise that there is already a Go Fund Me page up and running to benefit C&C Coffee, with $13,734 raised as of this writing. And no doubt the cafe owners will be heralded as “heroic” by those who think safeguarding the public health amounts to “tyranny.”

This isn’t the first defiance of state shutdown orders and it won’t be the last — especially in a time when such action can lead to short-term fame and the possibility of a profitable Go Fund Me drive.

The fundraising campaign for Shelley Luther, the Dallas hair salon owner who was arrested and jailed for contempt of court after reopening in violation of a court order, took in more than $500,000 before wrapping up. She became a celebrity in certain circles as well. We imagine a lot of folks took notice

We don’t suggest C&C Coffee is riding the bandwagon. We don’t know their motives. No doubt some business owners are defying shutdown orders because of financial hardship or personal convictions. But before you show support or donate to any such cause, it’s wise to remember there could be other motives, too.